The oilfield housing boom has motivated landlords to push out old tenants and bring in higher paid Eagle Ford workers. The owner interviewed in a MySanAntonio article is getting a bump in rent from $550 per month up to $1,250 per week or $5,000 per month if he can get 10 oilfield workers. Who knew Cotulla would have housing costs that rival New York City?! We need homebuilders to enter the rural South Texas market in a big way.

The “For Rent” sign hanging on the fence outside the rundown, four-bedroom house at 505 Thornton St. captures perfectly the new housing dynamic in many of the small communities booming across the Eagle Ford shale.

“Oil Field Guys — Welder — Pipe Liners (Guys Only),” it reads.

And while the old white house with the peeling paint is nothing to look at, its owner hopes it soon will generate thousands of dollars a month from transitory workers looking for little more than a place to flop.

“I'm asking $125 a week per man. It can hold up to eight beds, even 10 or 12, and I pay the utilities,” landlord Gustavo Ayala said in a recent phone conversation.

In comparison, the longtime tenant who was evicted this summer paid $550 a month.

Read the full news release at mysanantonio.com